This study determined footwear merchandising skills needed by graduates of Colleges of Education for self-reliance in Delta State. Survey research design was adopted. Three research questions guided the study. The population was made up of 2,450 foot wear and clothing and textile related business merchandisers/entrepreneurs and 62 home Economics lecturers in Colleges of Education in Delta State. Simple random and non-proportionate stratified random sampling technique were used to select a sample size of 200 entrepreneurs and lecturers. Questionnaire was used for data collection. The instrument was face validated by three experts (3). The internal consistency of the instrument was determined by using Cronbach alpha reliability method and 0.96 reliability coefficient was obtained. The data generated were analyzed using mean and standard deviation. Findings of the study include fourteen (14) planning, ten (10) organizing and eleven (11) marketing merchandizing skills needed for footwear business venture and its growth. Recommendations were made based on the findings of the study among which includes the need for more practical teaching in clothing and textile related business venture for self-reliance